The Role of the Chinese Peasants - Research Paper Example

The reason for this is that out of all the weaknesses of the peasantry in waging their wars; they are considered invaluable in the success of the Communist Party in its campaign against the Nationalist KMT from 1927 to 1949. Mao recognized the potential force of the sheer number of peasants and the fact that they constituted the bulk of the Chinese population during the Civil War period.

Under the tutelage of his mentor Li Dazhao, Mao started his campaign for social change with his attempts at organizing peasants as early as 1922. He would further be impressed by the effect of the peasant revolution as he witnessed the protest and insurrection of more than a million peasants in the province of Hunan in late 1926. (Grasso, Corrin and Kort 2009, p. 103) Mao studied the dynamics of these peasant uprisings with some comrades and worked hard to win them into the revolution’s fold.

His experiences with the peasantry and the developments triggered by peasant insurrections that he witnessed led Mao to the conclusion that if his Marxist campaign was to succeed, he must tap into and harness this mass, which, in his opinion, when given momentum could rise like a mighty storm, a force that no one can hold back. The problem, however, was that the Marxist ideology mandates that the working class should take the central revolutionary role. This became problematic because using the peasants would mean diverting from the ideal Marxist ideology.

A series of setbacks finally shook things up and transformed the Communist Party’s stand on the peasantry. For instance, in 1927, the Nationalist government launched the dreaded White Terror that nearly decimated the CCP. Mao and his comrades were driven to the countryside and finally worked with the peasants. He argues that the peasants are essential and that the proletariat should lead them instead of criticizing and opposing them. With the peasantry, Mao was able to steer the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) into a more potent force because the peasants helped him secure a physical base.

Mao’s relationship with the peasants revealed interesting insights about this class and the variables that led them to rise and join revolutions. As previously mentioned, there is a widespread belief among scholars, even contemporary proletarian officers, that peasants cannot conduct themselves and are good at following leaders outside their class. This demonstrates the dependency theory, wherein a weaker or poorer class is exploited to perpetuate a higher or more dominant course and its causes.

Mao and his comrades have sufficiently studied the peasantry to establish control mechanisms to keep the peasants' dependence successfully. The Communist Party operated with low finances, so it could not offer material things for support. However, they had excellent organizational capability, and the peasantry saw a good leader in them. They were, wrote Wou (1994), mainly motivated by the Communist success on the battlefield, which supposedly gave them a sense of security: “the growing Communist military superiority convinced them that the revolution offered an opportunity for status advancement.” (p. 8). The rest was history – the peasants were lured to rise in revolt. In the past, they failed because different intentions and motivations characterized their revolutions. With the CCP’s guidance, they were able to pursue a rural movement that was collective, coordinated and effective.